3 March 2014 Last updated at 09:13
Ukraine crisis: Russia tightens military grip on Crimea
Russia has tightened its military grip on Ukraine's Crimea region, taking de facto control despite Western demands that it withdraw.
Thousands of Russian troops are securing the region and further armour and ship movements have been reported.
The world's seven major industrialised powers have condemned Moscow's "violation of Ukraine's sovereignty".
Ukraine has ordered full mobilisation, issuing call-up papers and asking for more international support.
Russia says it is protecting its interests and those of Russian-speakers in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine following the ousting of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych last month.Two lawmakers shot in Libya as protesters storm parliament
Dozens of protesters have stormed Libya's parliament building, shooting and injuring two lawmakers and wounding several others. The protesters were contesting the interim parliament's decision to extend its mandate.
General National Congress (GNC) spokesman Omar Hmidan told Al-Nabaa television armed activists burst into the building in Tripoli on Sunday and attacked and "abused" lawmakers.
GNC speaker Nuri Abu Sahmein said two GNC members were hit by bullets after they tried to flee the venue in their cars. They were among several who were hospitalized.
Another GNC member said the protesters were mostly young men armed with sticks and knives who entered the building with chants of "Resign, resign."
The GNC, Libya's highest authority, was elected on an interim basis following the 2011 uprising that toppled Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews rally against proposal to draft them into Israeli military
March 3, 2014 - 9:51AM
Joel Greenberg
Jerusalem: Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked the main entrance to Jerusalem in a mammoth prayer vigil to protest plans to draft thousands of their young men for military service.
Chanting prayers and verses from the Psalms, a sea of swaying men in black hats and suits thundered "God is the Lord!" as banners proclaimed "The Torah is our life".
The gathering on Sunday was called after a parliamentary committee approved a bill that would set gradual quotas for conscripting up to 5200 ultra-Orthodox young men annually for military or other national service, in accordance with Israel's compulsory conscription law. Ultra-Orthodox who refuse to report for service would be liable to be charged with draft-dodging.
Pakistan grapples with discontent over rape prosecutions
Less than four percent of Pakistan's rape cases result in a conviction, according to activists. Now some political parties are pushing to make it even harder to prosecute rapists.
It seemed like yet another rape case, one of thousands that would remain unsolved.
The family of a 13-year-old gang-rape victim in Ratta Amral, a shoddy neighborhood of single-room homes a few miles outside Islamabad, was pressured by police to settle out of court in exchange for money. But intense media attention prompted protests and the intervention of the Supreme Court, which ordered police to pursue the case and prosecute the officers that had facilitated the settlement.
Two years later, the rape case itself still languishes in a state court, but the hearing it earned in the Supreme Court produced a landmark set of reforms. As a result of the court's orders, police in Punjab, Pakistan's most-populous province, look for DNA evidence in every rape case. Sindh, the second-most populous province, passed legislation last year mandating the same.
China seeks to boost development in minority areas
China will boost development in ethnic minority areas and spur their industrialisation, a senior Communist Party official said on Monday, in implicit recognition of the economic causes of some unrest in areas like Xinjiang.
The comments by Yu Zhengsheng, the fourth most senior ruling party member who heads a largely ceremonial advisory body to parliament, came as China reeled from a deadly attack on a train station blamed on militants from Xinjiang.
"We will conduct investigations and studies on ways to improve the distribution of industry in ethnic minority areas ... promote faster development and spur unity and harmony in ethnic minority areas," Yu said at the opening session of the advisory body, held in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Russian LGBT athletes hold Open Games despite official harassment, cancellations
By ,
MOSCOW — Outside, the clouds were as dark and threatening as the Russian authorities, but inside the brightly lit gym at the U.S. Embassy on Sunday, a team of Russian LGBT basketball players ran up and down the court, enjoying a moment officials had tried to deny them last week. They felt normal.
The Russians, who were playing a team of diplomats, were members of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation. They had gathered in Moscow on Wednesday for a series of sporting tournaments called the Open Games, meant as an inclusive event celebrating the spirit of the Olympics, which ended in Sochi on Feb. 23.
But as the games began to get underway, one venue after another canceled on them. Hotels evicted them. Restaurants suddenly were too full to accommodate them. An outdoor ice rink was closed for technical reasons when a group arrived to skate. After a smoke bomb went off at a basketball tournament Friday, organizers told athletes they could not guarantee their safety.
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